Here's how the Telegraph & Argus has reported how the new Freedom of Information law has been used on behalf of YOUR right to know:

  • This month, Councillor Matt Palmer (Con, Wharfedale) uncovered the cost of the new look to Bradford College's logo by using the Freedom of Information Act. Bradford College bosses have come under fire for spending £200,000 on new branding at a time when adult education courses are being cut, fees increased, and a campus closed.

The rebranding exercise, which cost £50,000 in research and design, will involve a further £150,000 being spent on changing signage and stationery.

  • Controversial US-style stunguns have been used by West Yorkshire Police more often than any other force apart from the Met, it was also revealed this month.
Figures provided in response to a Freedom of Information request reveal the West Yorkshire force's officers have been equipped with the Taser weapons 56 times and on almost half of those occasions they have drawn and aimed them.

Officers have shot the 50,000-volt stun weapons 20 times and in an additional five instances fired them as a "demonstration or warning". On one occasion an officer had to point a Taser at close range.

According to the figures released by the Home Office only the Metropolitan Police have used stun-guns, which temporarily incapacitate, more often against their targets. Figures show the London officers have used or threatened to use the weapon in 147 incidents since April 2003 when it was one of the forces across the country to pilot the scheme.

  • More than £1 million of taxpayers money was forked out on management consultants for the NHS in the Bradford area in a little over two years, according to information obtained in September last year by Conservative MP Grant Shapps.

There had been a near 100 per cent increase in the cost for the external advisers from £441,549 in 2004/05 to £812,129 in 2005/06.

  • In August, an FoI request revealed that ten West Yorkshire Police officers had been convicted of assault while serving with the Force.

Police representatives insisted there was no reason for the public to be concerned about the figures. But more than 160 officers were found to have convictions, some for assault, actual bodily harm and theft, in figures released by 13 police forces.

  • Also in August, we revealed that it cost more than £60,000 to show England's World Cup football matches on giant screens in Bradford.

The lion's share was spent on screen hire, policing and stewarding during the five events, which attracted thousands of revellers between June 10 and July 1.

Bradford Council, which organised the events, said its contribution of more than £50,000 to the total cost of £61,173 represented "excellent value for money" because the big screens proved so popular.

  • Dead and live rodents and their droppings were found inside two school kitchens in the district, according to food hygiene reports obtained by the Telegraph & Argus under the Freedom of Information Act in July.

The documents show one kitchen had experienced ongoing rodent infestation for four years and had been infested with cockroaches.

  • And last June we used the FoI to discover that Bradford Council spent £12.4 million on agency and temporary staff over the previous year - more than Calderdale and Kirklees put together.

The figures have provoked an angry reaction from leaders of the union that represents council workers, who say that the Council should employ more full-time staff to maintain a proper service.

The details were released under the Freedom of Information Act and came after a Council report the previous month revealed that sick days cost it £58,000 last year in employing agency workers as cover.

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